“Jesus, you remind me of myself at your age. I was too smart for my own good,” he said, and then changed the subject. “Are you planning to help Darius sell his drones?”
“Why do you ask?”
“Because it’s what I would do if I were in your position.”
“I’ve got someone working on that,” I admitted.
“Can I give you one piece of advice?” Hunter asked.
“Sure.”
“Don’t sell the rights to one of the big companies with military ties.”
“Why?”
“They have their own projects going on, and they’ll shelve what he’s put together here. When they do get around to digging into it, they’ll weaponize his design. I expect you don’t want Dare to have that on his conscience,” he explained.
“That was one of my first considerations when I learned they could fly autonomously.”
Hunter and I were on the same page with that. I would have a talk with Brook’s grandmother, Grace, to make sure we didn’t go down that path.
“One last thing,” he said, and he suddenly got more earnest. “Your greatest strength is as a facilitator. Someone who can step back, see the big picture, and direct others. If you can’t solve something, you’re probably too close to it. Pull back, and you’ll see how everything should fit together and what needs to be done. Trust yourself.”
Just when I thought I had him figured out, Hunter laid that on me. I couldn’t wait to share that with Uncle John. He’d been hammering into my head the power of leadership with delegation.
Earlier in the week, JD talked to me about not letting my bias cloud my decision making. Uncle John had told me that sometimes you had to hear or read something from a different source for it to really click. Deep in my bones, I recognized that Hunter had just laid an important life lesson on me.
◊◊◊ Sunday February 12
This morning, I found myself in Sunday school. I hadn’t been since middle school, but Sun had asked me to come with her. I knew they had a teen group but never seemed to find time to make it there. Sun had become involved with the church after they helped her find a family to live with, so I agreed to go this morning.
I realized something was up when Reverend Jackson came in with his wife, and they were all smiles.
“Welcome. I’m glad you all came for the big event today. This is one of the best services each year, when you get up in front of the church and pledge your purity until marriage,” Reverend Jackson said.
I groaned because this smelled like I’d been set up. Each year, the church held a grand service where the teens in the congregation promised to save themselves for marriage. I personally had never made that pledge. Besides, it was a little too late for me, anyway; I had children that proved that.
“What’s wrong, Honey?” Mrs. Jackson asked me. “Just because you’ve strayed in the past doesn’t mean that God won’t forgive you if you atone for your sins and put yourself on a righteous path.”
While I agreed with her, that was something I couldn’t do. The problem was that it would be an empty promise, even though it was what the scripture said. It might also be something I would adhere to for a while, but I knew myself.
First, I had committed to trying to be a man of my word. If I got up in front of the church and pledged that I would wait to have sex until marriage, I would have to stick to it. This was one of those times that my other life goal of learning to say ‘no’ was easy.
Secondly, I felt that sex was a part of a healthy relationship. It was called ‘an act of love’ for a reason. When Brook and I had expressed that love, it brought us closer together. I wasn’t advocating that for everyone, but it was right for me.
Finally, I didn’t believe I was going to Hell just because I enjoyed sex. My belief was the balance of what a person did determined whether they were allowed into Heaven. No one was perfect, but I thought that if you did the right thing and were loving and kind, St. Peter would welcome you at the Pearly Gates.
For the next hour, we were told about the dangers to our souls and read the relevant scripture. I did end up agreeing to lead the little lambs into the church for their pledge. Reverend Jackson and his wife were happy that they had browbeaten me into doing that.
What disturbed me the most was that Sun seemed pleased with herself.
Finally, the time came for us to enter the back of the church and walk up the aisle to the front, where the group would make their pledge. I noticed the shock on a lot of people’s faces when they saw me at the front of the line.
I knew in my bones that when I bailed, the impression it left on the congregation would not be favorable for me in the long run. In retrospect, I should have thought of the optics of all this and refused to lead them in.
I plastered a smile on my face and began the precession. When I saw my mom, I realized I couldn’t go through with this. I’d been put between a rock and a hard place. Either I had to go through with this or disappoint a lot of people.
What’s the saying? Out of desperation comes inspiration?
